The Eye of the Beholder
by Jessica North
Summary: Our minds are like a safe haven. A private little place where we can be ourselves, say and feel and do whatever we want without any standards. Where we can feel beautiful and loved, cling to hope when there isn't any, and ignore everything and just be serene. Now our refuge has been threatened once again, but how can the guardians stop it when they have their own battles to fight?
1. Penelope

**Hey-o! Jess here with the latest on this story... o.**

**So... racked my brain for a mythical creature, not only for the villain, but also my OC? Mother Nature? The book readers will get mad at me. Season spirit? All the names were stupid. But I got a gooooooood one, not only for that, but the villain too.**

**Is this Jack x OC? To be honest, I don't know. Is it? That is for you to decide, and me to write. I take your requests very seriously.**

**If you want to know how the story is going, check my profile for updates! I try my best to keep it updated.**

**That is all for now. Enjoy!**

* * *

The brown-haired girl flew above the clouds, riding her scepter like a skateboard. It had been a long day of imagination and ideas in England, and the girl was tired, which was why she wanted to return to her home, which was located in a San Francisco library.

When she was above the city, the girl swooped downwards with a cheer from the rush, gripping her scepter underneath her, not unlike a witch flying on a broom. To most people, the girl flying by just felt like a sudden gust of wind, but a few people caught a glimpse of the girl with the caramel skin.

The girl landed on top of the library, climbing in through a skylight. Her home, the unofficial attic of the library, was small and cozy and bright, just a simple room with a soft cream carpet and a comfy hammock and dozens of armchairs and couches for reading the books in the bookcases that lined the wall. The bookcases also contained tons of notebooks, some full and some empty, and an elaborate desk sat in a corner, covered in pencils, pens, notebooks, everything you'd expect to see on a desk, but doubled.

Happy to be home, the girl choose a book from the nearest shelf and collapsed onto the nearest chair.

If only she'd seen the shadow in the corner.

* * *

"Crap!" I exclaimed, starting the car again. The engine spurred and then died. "Crap, crap, crap! No, no, no, no!" I turned the key once again, only to hear the same dying noise. "Oh my God," I whined, banging my head on the wheel.

The horn blared and I shot up with a scream. Crap. My shift at Yogurt Heaven started in fifteen minutes, my parents were both out of town, and I could NOT be late. I was already on bad terms with my boss. This could not be worse.

Wait a second. Tabby! Why didn't I think of that before? I pulled out my phone and dialed the number.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Come on Tabby! Oh God, please don't be in the middle of a painting. Four rings. Five-

"Hello?" Tabby's voice interrupted the droning ring.

"Tabby!" I said, exasperated. "Hey! Hey, you're not in the middle of a painting are you?" I ran my hand through my wavy, chocolate brown hair, and then did it again. A nervous habit.

Silence. "Yeah, I was sketching. What's up?"

"Well," I said, my voice coming out an octave higher than usual. "Funny story, um, my car won't start," I ran my fingers through my hair again. "And my shift starts in fifteen minutes. Can you give me a ride?"

Tabby scoffed. "What did you do?"

"I don't know!" I exclaimed, throwing my free hand in the air. "The point is, can you or can you not give me a ride to work?"

There was a moment of silence before Tabby answered, and I could see her twisting her lip in an exaggerated way, as if considering it. "I dunno Mariah, I'm feeling pretty inspired right now. Hate to waste it."

"You suck, Tabs," I said in an annoyed tone.

Tabby's laughter crackles through the phone. "Alright, alright, fine. I'm on my way over. I'll meet you at the corner."

"Yay!" I said. "You're the best!"

"I thought I sucked."

"Oh, shut up Tabs. I'll see you soon."

"Kay, bye."

"Bye."

I pressed the red end call button and shoved my phone into my back pocket. In one swift motion I had grabbed my purse, the keys, and jumped out of my red Honda Civic. I walked down the sidewalk towards the corner.

Tabby and I had been given cars as a reward for almost finishing sophomore year over winter break. Tabby's came free. I had to work a shift at the local frozen yogurt place, Yogurt Heaven, to pay for part of mine.

Tabby, true to her word, pulled up at the corner about two minutes after I had reached it. I pulled open the shotgun door and hopped inside her blue Prius.

"Hey, Mariah," she said, starting the car and pulling her lollipop out of her mouth. "How's it hanging?"

I snorted. "How's it hanging. Tabby, you're a riot."

Tabby smiled and put the lolly back into her mouth as we turned the corner out of my neighborhood. "That's what they tell me." She snuck a quick look at me. "Nice outfit."

I looked down. I had skinny jeans and a white spaghetti strap blouse, along with my favorite red converse. Tenth grade had just ended, leading into summer and the only three months where I could go outside in a tank top, unlike the rest of the snow-covered year. I looked at Tabby, stunning in her paint stained jeans, combat boots and cut-up t-shirt. "Thanks," I smirked. "Nice hair."

Tabby tousled her choppy, just over the shoulder length, bright pink hair to show me the blue and black layers underneath. "Thanks to you, too," she said. "Morgan got a new shipment in and I was the guinea pig."

Morgan was Tabby's older sister, and she was a hair stylist. She was constantly using Tabby as a test dummy for new hairstyles until Tabby took some scissors to her hair. Now she just tried dying techniques on her. Tabby, ever the artist, didn't mind.

I nodded. "She did a good job. You look like cotton candy."

"That was the plan," Tabby said.

"Oh," I smiled. Leave it to Tabby. "So what's been up with you lately?" I asked.

Tabby shrugged. "You know, the usual. Was up til three in the morning sketching, only to wake up at nine and do some more. Oh, the glories of summer vacation. You don't need to think, therefore you don't need to sleep."

Tabby had gotten the idea into her brain sometime last year that sleep was a waste of time and useless, so during the summer she did as possible. I was trying to turn her back, but so far I hadn't had any luck.

"You need to sleep, Tabby," I said.

Tabby shook her head. "No, you need to sleep, Mariah," she sighed. "I got a date with Jonathan Merritt tonight."

Tabby may have worn nothing but old jeans and t-shirts, and dyed her hair crazy colors, but she was still drop dead gorgeous and had a perfect smile that made guys want to dump their girlfriends and ask her out.

"Jonathan Merritt," I said. "He's nice."

"Yeah. And crazy hot," Tabby said, pulling into the parking lot. "We have arrived, your majesty."

I exited the car and bowed. "I am forever in your debt, my friend."

"Yada, yada, yada," Tabby said. "You're my slave for life. Now go! I don't want you to be late!" She tossed me my purse and I bolted towards the building, thanking her with one final wave. Tabby honked and drove off just as I entered the building.

When I walked in the only people there were Seth, who worked this shift with me and was cleaning a table nearby, and oddly enough my boss, who was sitting at a table near the entrance. Strange. He hardly ever comes in.

"Hello, Miss. Winters," Rick Ashbury, my boss, said as I entered the building. "So very glad you could join us," Seth, who was one of my close friends and worked this shift with me, was cleaning a table nearby.

I looked at the clock as I walked into the employee room, punched my card, and grabbed my apron. "It's only one fifty-eight. My shift doesn't start for another two minutes," I said as I walked out.

"I'd like it if my employees were here five minutes early, Miss. Winters," Rick said.

"My car broke down and I had to catch a ride. Rick, I told you. You can call me Mariah," I said, grabbing my name tag out of the pocket and pinning it to my apron. I walked over to where Seth was cleaning the table, grabbed a rag, and headed to a table he hadn't hit yet.

"And I told you, Miss. Winters, to refer to me as Mr. Ashbury, and only Mr. Ashbury," Rick said sourly. "And that is not an excuse. You're on my list Miss. Winters."

I paused for a moment and ran my fingers through my hair. "Okay, Mr. Ashbury, would you care to enlighten us to your reasons for being here? Now. Today. When you are almost never here."

"Yeah," Seth said. "You're never, uh, what she said Mr. A."

"Ah, yes," Rick shot me a scowl. "I'm happy to announce a new employee is going to join you on the afternoon shift. She should be here any minute, and Seth," he pointed to the sandy blonde haired boy. "I want you to train her."

"Oh the lucky one," I muttered under my breath. Seth groaned, and I turned to stick my tongue out at him.

I heard the bell that signaled the opening door ring and heard Rick exclaim "Penelope!". Turning my head I saw a girl who was probably the most attractive person on Earth. Long, flowing, blonde hair that had volume and shine like shampoo commercial models, complemented by perfectly tanned skin and emerald green eyes. Her make-up was done perfectly and she had on the cutest clothes I had ever seen. It was as if Barbie had come alive.

I hated her instantly.

"Hello Rick," Barbie doll said, her voice hinting a strange accent. Russian? German? I couldn't tell. "I'm so sorry I'm late. I was have car troubles and then I lost my hair brush. I can't go out in public and greet costumers with unbrushed hair!"

"No problem Penelope," Rick said. SERIOUSLY. My hatred for Barbie Doll increased. "Oh! Um, Seth, Mariah, this is Penelope. She'll be joining you. Penelope, this is Seth and that is Mariah. Seth here will be showing you the ropes." Penelope? Who has named their kid Penelope in the last two decades?

Penelope gave Seth a little flirty wave, which infuriated me for some unknown reason, and then curled her lip slightly at me, as if I was something gross she had stepped on. After a second her scowl turned to a smile, showing off her perfect white teeth. I ran my fingers through my hair.

"Hello Seth, hello Mariah!" she said enthusiastically. "Oh, I am so excited for my first job! Seth, thank you so very much for agreeing to help me! We are going to be great friends, I'm sure of it!"

Is she for real. "Oh, um, okay," I back away slightly as the bell went off again. We all turned our heads to see three boys and a girl coming in, ten-dollar bills clutched in their hands. They looked at us for a moment, Penelope waving again. After waving back, slightly stunned, they ran to the back to get their yogurt.

We turned back to each other. "Right. Seth, take Penelope to the back and get her an apron and a name tag, and show her the ropes. Mariah, deal with them. I'll see you at the end of the week," Rick gave us a short wave and headed out the door.

Seth and Penelope headed to the back room. The kids in the back were no where near done deciding on a flavor, so I walked behind the counter and pulled out my phone to text Tabby.

I had just typed a hello and hit the send button when Seth came out. "Texting on the job Miss. Winters?" he said raising an eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes. "Stuff it. Those guys are no where near ready to check out, and you were dealing with the blonde wonder. Speaking of which, how was she?"

"Crazy hot, but you knew that," Seth sighed. "But underneath? World class egomaniac."

I sucked in a breath. "Ouch. Oh my God, this'll be fun to watch."

Seth curled his lip. "Oh ha ha ha. But, seriously, I couldn't get a word in!" Seth raised his voice several octaves. "Omg my hair looks so good today! You're pretty hot, almost as hot as me!"

I tried to keep from laughing. "You're showing Tabby that."

Seth shook his head fiercely. "No way. She'll never let me live it down!"

"Which is why you are doing it," I checked my phone. Nothing. "Speaking of which, where is Her Big-Headedness? Checking her reflection in the mirror? Using the strawberry tougher as lip gloss? Oh no wait, I got it. Trying out flirting techniques on herself?"

"Close," Seth smiled. "I told her to watch me work the topping bar for those guys," he pointed to the kids, two of which had finally picked a flavor. "So she could learn how, you know?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Well," Seth snorted. "She's in the back trying out voices."

"No!"

"I kid you not Mariah."

I burst into laughter. "Oh my God! I cannot believe her! She's not real, this is not real. She is not seriously," I took a deep breath. "Trying out voices. To use with kids."

Seth nodded. "Nope. I said "you can watch me do the topping bar in a minute, because there nothing else to really do right now" and then she goes "okay, you go ahead, just let me find the right voice" and so I just left."

I put my head in my hands. "Some people should not get up in the morning," I pushed my hair back and brought my head up."I'm switching shifts, I am not dealing with her."

"You would leave me?" Seth pouted. "With her?"

"In a heartbeat," I snickered.

"Well you can't leave just yet," Seth said. "You have company," he pointed to the four kids, who were lined up and waiting for their toppings.

"Oh!" I shoved my phone into my back pocket and hurried over. "Go away Seth."

Seth put his hands up and headed for the door. "I'll get Penelope and put her on toppings after I show her how. Just slide down until you get to the cash register."

"Gotcha," I smiled and turned to the kids. "Hi, sorry for the wait. Who's first?"

"Me," one of the boys said. He had dark brown hair that was mostly shaved off, unlike another boy who appeared to be his twin brother, with combed back hair.

"Okie doke," he placed his foam bowl of fro-yo on the counter and I picked it up and placed it on the sliding counter. "What would you like?"

"Gummy bears, chocolate rocks, and marshmallows," the boy said with a smile.

I grimaced slightly. Gummy bears. Ew. I put each of the requested toppings on the swirled lumps of brown frozen yogurt and moved to the syrup station. "Syrup?" I asked as Penelope and Seth came back out. Seth greeted the remaining kids and began to explain to Penelope how the topping station worked. The boy with the combed back hair went first.

"Fudge," the boy said. I pushed down on the dispenser three times and moved over to the cash register. I snuck a look at Seth and Penelope as I put the bowl on the scale. Seth had moved to the syrup station with the twin and Penelope was dealing with the girl with the copper brown hair.

"That'll be nine sixty-eight," I said. The boy handed me a ten dollar bill.

"Keep the change," he said, clicking his tongue. I chuckled, adding thirty-two cents to the tip jar.

"I'm up," the first boys twin said. As soon as I had weighed his yogurt, he snatched it off the scale and slammed down his own ten dollar bill. "Keep the change," he repeated his brother, heading over to the same table.

"Thanks boys," I gave them a little wave as copperhead came up.

She smiled, placing her bowl of yogurt on the scale carefully. "Hello," she smiled. I smiled back and gave a little wave. "Is he your boyfriend?" she pointed to Seth.

I looked over. "Seth? Naw he's just a really good friend of mine. Like a brother."

Copperhead nodded, blushing a bit. "Oh, sorry. You were joking around wen we came up so I assumed. Anyway, it looks like she likes him," she pointed to Penelope.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Copperhead nodded again. "Yeah, but something about her seems off. You know what I mean?"

"I noticed that too Pippa," the final boy came up. "We should tell Jack."

"Who's Jack?" I asked. "Another friend of yours?"

Copperhead- Pippa- and the boy looked at each, as if having a silent discussion. "Sort of," Pippa said slowly. "Come on Jamie, we have to go."

"Oh, sorry," I checked the cash register. "Seven fifteen."

Pippa handed me the bill and I fished out the money for her, then did the same with the boy, named Jamie. They both said goodbye and dropped a dollar in the tip jar. I waved at them as they gathered up the other two kids and headed out the door.

I checked my phone again. Still nothing. Tabby must have gotten a good idea or something, because she always checks her phone. I got out a rag and began to clean the counter, all the while wondering what those kids thought was so weird about Penelope, and why they had to tell Jack?

And who was Jack?

* * *

**Wait... very little mention of Rise of the Guardians? What kind of fanfiction is this?**

**Relax birdies, the awkward chapter is over. Hopefully you'll follow to read the rest!**

**Did it suck? Was it just awful? Or was it okay? Good even? Please tell me by reviewing! Reviews are the best! You can give me constructive criticism, ask me to put things in my story I will try to put in, and even better, every tenth reviewer gets me reading and reviewing one of their stories, and every fifteenth gets a one shot written for them! So review, review, review!**

**Later gators,**

**Jess **


	2. Undoubted Belief

**Wow! Chapter one already has one review, one follow, and twelve views! OH MY GOSH!**

* * *

Flying is the best way to travel.

At least that was what Jack thought as he flew across Northern Canada. Bunny may have his tunnels, and North his sleigh, but flying, and really _flying _freely above the world, on your own, with nothing supporting you but the wind... it really was a rush.

Jack loved flying, almost as much as freezing things. Some nights he would fly around Sandy's dream sand, causing beautiful golden dolphins to break free from it and swim alongside him.

Ironically, that was what he had been doing when he saw the lights. The Northern lights. And when Jack saw the lights, he took off full speed due north, the North Pole to be exact.

The lights were a calling, and they meant that there was some sort of problem. A month after Pitch had been cast under his own bed. What possibly could have happened? Jack was somewhat worried, but he brushed it off. They defeated Pitch, the master of fear, the greatest adversary alive. Who could defeat them now?

The Pole came into view, and Jack flew faster, if that was even possible. Landing in front of the door he ran inside and towards the large globe room where the the other four guardians were already standing in front of their little floor... picture... thingy.

"Sorry I'm late," Jack apologized, taking his place in the circle of guardians. "I was in Australia getting ready for winter," he shuddered. "I really hate Australia. I swear, everything there is trying to kill me." He cast a side look at Bunny, who was scowling. "Oh. Right."

"There is nothing wrong with the outback, mate," Bunny's nose twitched and he leaned forward until he was almost nose to nose with the youngest guardian. "And I wouldn't say that again if I were you."

Jack put his hands up in defense. "Sorry, Bunny, I forgot."

"Yeah, well don't forget again," Bunny huffed, backing away.

"Bunny! Jack! Can we get on with whatever North called us here for?" Tooth asked. She seemed a lot more relaxed than normal, and wasn't zipping around distractedly and giving orders to the fairies like she normally did.

Bunny nodded. "Yeah, why did you call us here, North?"

Santa Claus smiled. "It has been month since Pitch was defeated. I figured we'd celebrate! I have food and drinks all set up, and the Yeti's have worked hard on it. Plus, we haven't seen each other in a while."

Sandy and Jack shrugged. "It's only been a month. I wouldn't call that a while," Jack said.

North nodded. "Yes, well, I still have food and drinks. So let's party!"

The guardians laughed and North led them to a grand feast set up on a giant table, where they quickly began to eat and share information. Bunny had fixed up the Warren, and his tunnels. Tooth had appointed Baby Tooth as her assistant, and Sandy and North were as usual, seeing as it was only June and Sandy never had much trouble with the dreams, as they came almost automatically.

Thanks to the dream Sandy had sent out when he'd come back to life, Jack was now visible to over half of the world's children, a huge improvement. Now that he was a Guardian, he needed to have believers, or else he'd... well it wouldn't be good.

"Oh!" Tooth exclaimed suddenly. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot! I meant to tell you as soon as it happened but there was a left molar two houses down and I nearly missed it."

"Tell us what?" Bunny asked. Sandy made a question mark above his head.

Tooth put down her fork. "Well, I was out in the field yesterday, since I had realized how much I missed it. Four hundred and forty years was way to long to be out of action-"

"Tooth!" Jack exclaimed. "Continue."

"Oh, right." Tooth blushed slightly. "There I go again. Anyway, I was in Montana last night, collecting a right molar from the cutest little boy when I saw a girl through the window. She looked about fifteen or sixteen, and she looked like she was having a nightmare, except she looked more sad than scared."

North's eyes widened. "But surely Pitch is not back? He can't be!"

Tooth put a hand up to stop him. "Let me finish. So, as I was saying, the girl appeared to be having some sort of nightmare. So, I want inside to check, but there wasn't a single nightmare there! Just a shadow, but when I checked it was nothing. And as I made my rounds that night, I saw girl after girl, all in their teens, suffering from that sad nightmare."

There was silence at the table of guardians. "Are you sure it wasn't a stray nightmare?" Jack asked. "Maybe Pitch got some power."

Bunny shook his head. "I doubt it. There's basically no fear to feed off of. Maybe it's nothing. Teenage girls always have some sort of problem, right?"

North nodded slowly, deep in thought. "I should have noticed. The self-esteem of teenage girls has been low lately. Lower than usual."

"How can you tell?" Jack asked. "Teens aren't children."

North shook his head. "A teenager is basically a child who doesn't believe. We still watch over them, just not as closely."

"Oh," Jack breathed.

"It's gotta be nothing," Bunny waved a paw, dismissing the idea but then froze and moved it back. "Actually, now that you mention it, I saw a couple of girls in South Korea the other day, just sitting in their rooms, doing nothing but staring at the wall."

"So it's not just America, but South Korea too," Tooth frowned. "Why are all of these girls so sad? Oh I'm getting really worried about this. How could I have forgotten?"

Sandy shrugged. He made a picture of chocolate above his head, and a heart breaking, followed by a tube of lipstick snapping and a mall with an X over it.

Jack chuckled. "No, Sandy, I don't think that's it."

Sandy shrugged again and smiled.

"Guys!" Tooth cried. "I think this is serious."

"Eh, Tooth." North shook his head and shrugged slightly. "I don't think it's a big deal. You probably have never noticed it before. You focus on the younger children so much, you don't really notice the older ones."

Tooth tucked her wings behind her back and lowered her head. "I guess."

"Don't worry so much, Tooth," Bunny smiled.

"Yes," North said, gesturing at Bunny. "Do not be worried, Tooth. Let yourself relax and celebrate. It has been whole month since Pitch has been banished!"

"But that's just it," Tooth said. "How are we sure he's gone forever?"

There was silence after that. No one knew how to respond.

Because they didn't know.

* * *

"Here you go," I handed the last foam bowl of the day to it's new owner and collected the ten dollar bill that came for it. After handing the customer the change, I waved them good-bye, closed the cash register, and turned around.

"We're done for the day!" Seth cried out happily, giving me a double high- five. I laughed and walked past him towards the back room to remove my apron and get my stuff.

I grabbed my punch card and stuffed it into the slot to check out. Then I hung up my apron and opened my locker, trading my nametag and card for my purse. "Checking out!" I said with a huge smile on my face. I'd never been so happy to be done.

Seth hung up his apron and turned to me. "So, Mariah, do you wanna hang out? Can't be at my place though, we're repainting. Plus I really want some of your mom's cookie brownies," he chuckled and pulled out a slip of paper. "Oh, and paycheck!"

I shoved the paper into my purse, which I then slung over my bare shoulder. Then I freaked out a bit. "Wait, where's my jean jacket?" I asked, slightly nervous. I could not deal with the dang Burgess snow without my trusty denim jacket.

"It's summer, 'Riah," Seth snickered. "You didn't wear it."

"Oh," my shoulders sagged. "Right." I perked up a bit. "You know how much I hate winter!"

Seth twisted his lip. "I know that, but I don't know why you hate snow days and snowball fights and the snowflakes in your hair when I took that picture of you..." he trailed off, blushing slightly.

He remembered the day of the picture? It was ninth grade, and Seth had just gotten a new camera. He wanted to take a picture of me, and it was snowing. I had snowflakes in my hair, and I was laughing at what a goof Seth was, and even I had to admit I looked pretty in that picture.

I still had it.

I shrugged, brushing off the memory. "Everything dies, it's cold, and wet, and I have to wear a jacket all the time."

"Yeah, but you love that jacket," Seth smiled. "So, how about it, Mariah? Can I come over? And eat your mom's famous cookie brownies?"

I shook my head. "Sorry, Seth. My parents are both out of town, and I'm staying with my grandma at my place. She doesn't make brownies."

Seth pouted. "Aw," he hung his head. "I really wanted to hang with you."

"We could go to the park," I said. "It's only six o'clock, the sun is still shining. As long as you can drive we can go."

"Right, your car broke," Seth thought for a moment. "I think that-"

"Excuse me!" Penelope snapped as she stomped into the room, cutting in between Seth and I. She quickly scowled at my before flashing a dazzling smile at Seth. "Seth, Rick's here. He wants you to show me how to do everything. I mean, I didn't mess up at the topping bar," she pulled a classic puppy dog face.

I rolled my eyes as Seth began to stutter. "Uh, uh, um, well, um, actually, I, Mariah and I-"

"Great!" Penelope turned to me. "Good-bye, Mariah." Her voice was sickly sweet but her face was sour. I curled my lip slightly and turned on the heel of my converse, nearly bumping her six inch heels.

Wait.

Who wears six inch heels to work at a frozen yogurt place?!

I walked out of the room, shouting a quick good-bye to Seth and ignoring his cries of protest. As I walked out I noticed Rick sitting at a table gazing at the back door as if in a trance. Hmm.

Tabby was waiting for me outside in the parking lot. As I hopped into her car I noticed that she had swapped the cut up t shirt for a white one that had the name of some band I'd never heard of on it, and some red plaid jeans. She still had on her combat boots, and slightly more make-up.

"What kind of date is it?" I asked, surveying her outfit.

Tabby popped her gum. "Laser tag."

Neither of us said anything for a moment. "Keep him," I said.

As soon as the word "him" had left my mouth, Tabby replied. "I plan to," she turned around the corner and I could see the sun setting out the window. Darn. I hated my shift. First a waste of rare sunlight, and now Penelope. "So, how was it?" Tabby said.

"Suckish," I spat. "There's a newbie on my shift, a complete airhead." I explained everything about Penelope, her perfecty perfectness, her irritatingly good looks, her horrific behavior, and her crush on Seth.

Tabby was silent for a moment. "You're kidding, right?"

I should my head. "Nope. And get this. The first customers on my shift came, a bunch of little kids, and Seth is going to have her work the topping bar. So she goes to practice voices."

Tabby burst into laughter, slamming her hand against the dashboard. "Oh my God, oh," she wiped a tear from her eyes. "You should write a book on this, Mariah. It has bestselling comedy written all over it."

"Wait," I said. "It gets weirder. So I serve the first kid, and Seth the second, so Penelope does the third one. The girl comes up to me and tells me something is off about her," I left out the part about her thinking Seth was my boyfriend. Tabby would never let it go.

"Off?" Tabby asked.

I nodded vigorously. "Yeah. And then one of the boys comes up and agree with her, saying they should tell Jack. I asked who Jack was, they got all weird and said he was a friend. And then they left."

"Odd," Tabby turned into my street. "Tell Nana I said hi."

"Got it." I grabbed my purse, getting ready to exit. "So what do you think? About the whole Penelope and kids and Jack thing?"

Tabby thought for a moment as she stopped the car in front of my house. "Maybe he's imaginary."

I shook my head. Something told me Jack was real. "I doubt it," I opened the door and stepped outside. "Thanks for the ride. I'll see you later. Have fun on the date!"

Tabby gave me a quick wave as I shut the door. I trudged up the driveway to my tall brick house, opening the garage and heading inside, casting an angry look at my car on the way in. Nana's car was next to it, indicating that she was home.

"Nana, I'm home!" I cried, swinging my purse on the counter. The short, gray-haired woman I called my Nana walked over to me with open arms. I gave her a quick hug, then walked to the pantry.

"How was work?" Nana asked.

"Fine," I said, pulling put a box of spaghetti. I didn't feel the need to burden Nana with the misfortune I'd had today. She took care of me a lot, every time my parents were out of town. And that was often.

I filled a pot with water and carried it to the stove, turning on the burner and waiting for the water to boil. Nana retreated to the living room to read her book, so I sat on the island counter and played on my phone.

The spaghetti was ready about twenty minutes later, and dinner was quiet, both of us reading. After dinner I went up to my room and watched TV for a bit, all the while wondering about Jack. The kids expressions when Jamie had suggested telling him, Pippa's sudden urge to leave... and on top of it all, I had the strangest feeling of undoubtable belief that something was up.

I just couldn't get him off my mind.

* * *

**How was it?**

**Did it suck? Was it suckish like Mariah's day?**

**I've decided to have a question of the chapter, something to review about, because reviews make me write even faster so you don't have to wait forever for the next chapter. I have the first eleven outlined.**

**So the question for this chapter is: How do you like Tabby?**

**Yours Truly,**

**Jess **


	3. Tricky Business

The cave was dark. Cages hung from the ceiling, black as the night and made of some strange material, and there were cracks and crevices scattered along the walls. Black sand swirled around a metal globe lit up with thousands of lights. The entire cave had an air of despair, and overwhelming felling of displeasure and... fear.

"Pitch!" a voice echoed through the cave. "Man, Pitch, you need to get an interior designer in here. It's so _dreary_." The owner of the voice, a gorgeous redheaded girl with an ukulele strapped to her back, rounded the corner as the black sand materialized into half of a man in front of her.

"I'm so sorry it inconveniences you, Callista," the sand man said. "But, this is not my choice. I am not here of my own free will. If it were up to me I would not be here, like this," he motioned to his sandy form.

The redhead raised her eyebrows and walked over to the illuminated globe. "Oh, that's right! You let an old Russian man, an over-sized bunny rabbit, a mutant hummingbird, a little sand man, and a _teenager_," she sneered. "Turn your own home into your prison. And wasn't there a child, as well?"

The sand man scowled. "They did not defeat me."

"Right," Callista placed her hand on one of the lights and it flickered, causing her to smile. "I forgot. In your quest to extinguish these, you let your own fear trap you. How pitiful, Pitch. I really thought you were better than that, I mean, isn't fear the most powerful thing in the world?"

Pitch floated over to the lovely woman. "Callista, why exactly are you here? It can't be to mock me."

"Oh, but I love to mock people," Callista turned her head towards the annoyed Pitch. "I feed off of your insecurities. The worse you feel about yourself, the more powerful I am."

"What happened to luring men into your traps?" Pitch asked. "You know, killing them on that lovely island of yours. Singing your pretty little song and luring them to their watery grave."

Callista scoffed, her hand going to the ukulele. "I haven't been to that island in ages. I discovered long ago that insecurity was a much better, and easier, form of power. I still lure men in, yes, but only to increase a girl's insecurity. If I steal the man she wants, she wonders why. She wonders why she wasn't good enough. So I get power, and a nice guy. And when I break his heart, he gets insecure. It's perfect!"

Pitch rolled his eyes. "Callista, can you please tell me why you are here?"

"Oh, right," Callista wandered over to one of the lower hanging cages to inspect it. "I have a proposition for you. I need your help with something, Pitch. I'm trying to take over the world."

"What, just you?" Pitch taunted.

"Myself, and my sisters," Callista gave the cage a little push, and it rocked back and forth. "A bird cage, huh? What do you expect to keep in here?"

"It held fairies," Pitch expalined quickly. "So, this deal of yours?"

Callista nodded. "Yes, well, the only problem with my otherwise brilliant plan is, well, teenagers are the only one who really get insecure. They are the only ones who I can really feed off of. Children don't care, and adults are usually married and happy because they found someone who liked them enough to make it official. So, I need to get into their heads."

"I can't help with that," Pitch said. "I don't control minds. I can cause fear... but not like that."

Callista twisted her lip. "Yes, I know. I have the power at my disposal to get into the minds, but nothing to put into them. That's where you come in."

"You want to put fear into their minds," Pitch concluded.

Callista nodded. "Yes. I want them to fear my sisters and I. I want them to think they aren't good enough. I want the married women to fear losing their husbands, and the children... the children to fear something!" Callista shoved the birdcage, which flew forward. She stormed over to the globe again, the light she had touched before still flickering.

"The only way to make the children fear is to make all of those lights go out!" Pitch cried. "The Guardians will not let you harm the children, so you must destroy the guardians!"

Callista thought for a moment, her earlier temper gone. "I don't want to involve the guardians if I don't have to. I have the mind power, I don't need to be rid of the guardians. The children won't believe if they are scared."

Pitch shook his head. "That is my condition. I will help you, but only if you will help me destroy the guardians."

Callista hesitated. "I don't see the harm in that. Fine. If you want to destroy the guardians, be my guest. I will let you take from them the only thing they have. Belief."

"There is one more thing," Pitch said. "I want Jack Frost. I want to make him pay for what he did to me."

Callista curled her lip. "I had a plan for him."

"Do you want my help or not, Callista," Pitch asked. "I won't help unless I get to be the one to kill Jack Frost."

Callista shook her head. "No, you moron. The fear of a spirit is ten times better than the fear of a mortal. Are you daft? You can't just kill Jack! That's why I had a plan!"

Pitch was silent for a few seconds. "Does that plan involve Jack, fearful?" he asked.

Callista nodded. "Of course. You would be the one to put the fear into his brain. It will be the guardians undoing."

"I thought you weren't going to bother with the guardians," Pitch chuckled. "I thought you didn't want to start anything. Where you lying to me, Callista? Did you want to deal with the guardians by yourself?"

Callista rolled her eyes. "Of course not. I always have a back-up plan. So, are you in, or are you out?"

Pitch thought for a moment, contemplating what the redheaded women had told him. Then he realized something. "What's in this for me again? I don't recall you ever mentioning that."

"You'll be believed in," Callista snapped. "You will be free of this prison, have your own form, and you will get your revenge on Jack Frost."

Pitch smiled deviously. "Well, in that case, my dear, we have a deal."

* * *

"Morning, Nana," I yawned, stretching my arms as I trudged down the stairs, fuzzy slippers covering ny feet and a pink robe covering my old shirt and basketball shorts. Nana was over in the kitchen, hidden in a crevice in my tiny home, just viable from the base of the winding staircase.

"Good morning, Mariah," Nana said, stirring something on the countertop stove. I noticed it was scrambled eggs as I reached into the cabinet above her to grab a cup. "I hope you have time for breakfast today before work."

I opened another cabinet and pulled out a packet of hot chocolate mix. Wait, I have to deal with Penelope today. Better make that two packets. I pulled another one out and dumped the two into the mug. "Um, yeah, I have time. My shift doesn't start until two."

Nana beamed at me while I put the mug under the coffee maker, on its tray, and pressed the button. A thin stream of boiling hot water poured out. "Lovely," Nana said, putting the eggs onto two plates. "I made bagels."

"Cool." The bagels popped out of the toaster and Nana pulled each one out and spread peanut butter on them. Yum. "I was thinking of heading to the park with Tabby before my shift. My car's still dead, so I'll need a ride." I took a sip of my hot cocoa and hissed in pain. Hot.

Nana stopped spreading. "Your car broke down?"

Nuts. I never told her. "Yeah," I began slowly. I didn't want to worry her. "It's no big deal, stuff like this happens all the time. Tabby gave me a ride."

Nana thought for a moment. "I was at Daphne's, wasn't I? At least I won poker," she grumbled as she resumed spreading the peanut butter on the final bagel half. "I'll have to call Bob."

"You play poker?" I asked, taking another sip of my cocoa. "I thought you played bridge at Daphne's."

Nana placed the four hacks on the plates, putting both of the top halves on my plate. "That's just what I tell your mother."

I smiled and grabbed my plate and Nana grabbed here's and we made our way to the table. I sprinkled some salt onto my eggs and took a bite. Delicious. "Well are you playing today? Because I'd like to go to the mall and..."

"No, no, no, missy," Nana said. "I am not going to encourage you to gamble. Now finish your breakfast so you can call Tabby and go to the park. I know how much you love summer."

"I don't love summer, Nana, I just really hate winter," I said, taking a bite of bagel. "With a burning, fiery passion. If winter were a person, I'd murder them. And I wouldn't feel that bad about it."

Nana laughed, a noise that sounded like ringing bells. "Mariah, you crack me up."

I lifted a corner of my mouth in a half smile and took another bite.

* * *

"So how was it?" I asked, looking at Tabby. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, the only hairstyle I was willing to wear.

"How was what?" she asked.

"The date, you ding-dong," I pushed her playfully. It was around one o'clock, and Tabby and I were sitting in the grass on a hill, enjoying the sunshine. Tabby had agreed to drive me to work until Nana's friend, Bob, could fix my car.

Tabby laughed, leaning back on her elbow to avoid me. "No need to hit 'Riah. It was good. He accepted the fact that my laser tag skill were superior to his, and we did the cute back to back thing, and I hit two people with one shot. Not bad for a first date."

"Will there be a second?" I inquired.

Tabby thought for a moment, twisting her mouth like she always did while she thought. "Possibly," she giggled, holding out the last syllable. "Maybe. Probably. Um, hell yes!" she cried, throwing her arms up in the air.

I scoffed and smiled, shaking my head at her. "Tabby's got a boyfriend, Tabby's got a boyfriend!"

"It was one date!" Tabby cried. She gave me a hard shove, and I feel onto my back. Tabby hovered over me, a cocky smile of her face and I burst into laughter. Tabby joined in as I sat up again.

"What was that for?" I asked in between chuckles.

Tabby made a face. "Don't taunt me or you shall eat grass!"

"Oh, shove off, Tabs!" I said as I gave Tabby a push. With a shriek she was rolling down the hill, her black jeans and blue band t-shirt aquiring a few green spots along the way.

Tabby stood up once she had stopping and attempted to brush off the stains. With a scowl, she stomped up the hill, her deep blue eyes locked on my hazel-brown ones. "You suck, 'Riah."

I scooted away from her, getting onto my feet and backing away, making sure to keep one eye on the girl with the rainbow hair at all times. "Watch it, I'm wearing white jeans."

"Too late," Tabby sneered. And with that she took off at full speed towards me. I let out a high-pitched scream and ran as fast as I could away from her. Eventually, Tabby caught up to me and jumped onto my back. I fell to my knees, somewhat tired after all the running, and pushed Tabby off.

"Okay," I sighed. "You win." I checked my watch. "We should head to Yogurt Heaven now, I want to be exactly two minutes early."

"Why?" Tabby asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ricky got on my back about being three minutes later than he would have liked. He probably won't be there, but I want to be there early anyways," I explained.

"Alright," Tabby stood up and offered me a hand, which I accepted. "Let's go."

* * *

Yogurt Heaven was packed when I got in, people sitting at almost every single table, and one table was without chairs. Upon closer inspection, I realized the chair had been moved to table nearby.

I recognized a few people from school, Trina Parker, Drew Carson, Lizzie Harris, and a few of my other friends were crowded around a table nearby. Trina waved to me, and I waved back, ducking behind the counter.

My shift didn't start for another seven minutes, seeing as I decided to come early, so Ally Hollins, a girl on the previous shift, was still working the counter. Seth wasn't here yet, and hopefully neither was Penelope

"Hey," Ally said, blowing her short, brown curls out of her face. "Thank God you're here. I'm ready to kill myself with this crowd."

I chuckled. "Go ahead and check-out. I'll take over from here."

Ally smiled. "Thanks."

I gave her a quick smile and ducked into the back room, only to be greeted by an all-to-familiar blonde girl. Great.

"Hi, Mariah," Penelope said brightly as I walked in, a huge smile plastered to her face. She was sitting on a cooler, and she hadn't put on her apron or nametag yet. "Where's Seth?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. I'm not his keeper," I snapped.

Penelope curled her lip and scoffed. "Whatever."

Not wanted to converse with the real-life Mean Girl, I punched in my card, pulled my apron over my blue, floral blouse and pinned my nametag onto it, walking outside. I passed Ally on my way out, and she gave me another weary smile.

"She refused to help. Said it wasn't her shift," Ally hissed as she passed me. I froze for a moment, appalled, and then continued to the counter. Sounds like Penelope.

The door made a ringing noise as Seth walked in. He gave me a lopsided smile and walked behind the counter. "Hello, Mariah," he said in a British accent.

"Hello, Seth," I mocked, using the same accent. "Are you ready to deal with your lovely trainee?"

Seth rolled his eyes. "No, I'm not particularly fond of that. She's a bit of a-"

"Seth!" Penelope called out, almost running out of the back room. She had her arms open in a hug, but when Seth didn't hold out his she tried to lower them as nonchalantly as possible. "I'm so glad you're here. We need to continue my training!"

"Um," Seth put his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth. "I think I showed you everything there is to show around here. You don't exactly need to know how to do that much with this job."

Penelope shook her head. "You must have missed something. Come on!" Penelope grabbed his hand and pulled him into the back room. Seth shot me a "kill me now" look, and I stifled a laugh. Poor Seth.

* * *

"How was it?" I asked. Seth had finally been released from his training duties, mainly because it was time to clean the machines. He'd shown Penelope how and now she was doing it, a scowl on her face. Yogurt Heaven had cleared out, and so no one was using the machines.

Seth shrugged. "Not so bad actually. Penelope actually pretty cool."

I gasped comically. "Cool?" I said in a distressed voice, making air quotes every time I said "cool". "Cool!? Penelope, the stuck up airhead who practiced voice to use with children is "cool"? Are we talking about the same Penelope?"

Seth nodded. "Yeah I was talking to her. She said she was just really nervous yesterday, and that she doesn't usually act like that."

I scoffed. "I thought the only thing "cool" about Penelope was the air in her head. Or is hot air, since she thinks she's such hot stuff." I made air quotes as I said the words "hot stuff".

Seth laughed and twisted his lip. "You already used that one."

I swatted him on the shoulder. "Shut up!"

Seth put his hands up. "Okay, okay. But seriously, I think you'd really like her. We're hanging out after work today, if you want to come-"

"You're already hanging out with this chick?!" I cut him off. "You just met! What's next, engagement?"

Seth raised an eyebrow. "Calm down Mariah, it's not like I asked her on a date."

I took a deep breath and looked down at the counter. What just happened? "Sorry," I said at last. "I don't know what came over me."

"That's okay," Seth said, nodding. "So, do you want to hang out with us?"

I shook my head. I didn't care what he said. Penelope was bad news as far as I was concerned. "No thanks," I said with a smile. But on the inside I felt a kind of hurt I couldn't understand.

* * *

**Question of the Chapter: Do you like Mariah?**


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